1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sleep apnea syndrome diagnosing device and a signal analyzer, and methods thereof.
2. Background Art
It is said that approximately twenty thousand patients with sleep apnea syndrome exist in all of Japan. To check whether the patient has sleep apnea syndrome, it is essential to attach plural different sensors to various parts of a body, such as hands and feet and an abdomen, of the patient and perform a test on the patient, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-200031.
Further, it is necessary for different specialized doctors to analyze test results thus collected, and furthermore it is finally required for these different specialized doctors to gather, bringing their analysis results together, to draw a conclusion as to whether or not the patient has sleep apnea syndrome.
As can be seen from the above, in a related testing method, it is necessary to attach plural sensors to a body of a patient, which causes a problem that the patient finds preparations for a test burdensome. Besides, since the number of necessary sensors is normally 20 or more and these many sensors need to be attached, the explanation and guidance of the test from the doctor to the patient are complicated.
Moreover, after measurement, plural different specialized doctors are required to analyze test results, which causes a problem that a lot of time and cost are necessary. In particular, the analysis of the collected test results requires a lot of time, whereby the development of a method capable of temporary screening in a simple manner is desired. Namely, the development of a method of temporarily screening many patients as to whether they have sleep apnea syndrome, and only when in doubt, performing a more detailed test is desired. In particularly, it is thought that many potential patients exist within Japan, U.S. and so on, whereby it is believed that the development of this screening method is urgently needed.